Winners and Losers of Henrik Lundqvist's New Contract with New York Rangers

Henrik Lundqvist is likely to remain a career Ranger after it was confirmed by the team that he had been signed to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension that will begin next season. The move is very interesting considering his age and the Blueshirts' cap situation, so the move isn't exactly a slam dunk.

Lundqvist was going to get paid, but the Rangers now will have a harder time shaping their roster for the future with so much money invested in their franchise netminder.

With that in mind, here are the winners and losers of the Lundqvist extension.

Winner: James Dolan, Owner

Scott Levy/Getty Images

Dolan with Sather and Vigneault.

Dolan is the owner of the Rangers, and Lundqvist is the Rangers' biggest star. By keeping Lundqvist on the team, he will continue to make tons of money through advertising, ticket sales and other hockey-related revenue. Lundqvist also is one of the top athletes who works with the Garden of Dreams Foundation, so Dolan is a big winner by having his star locked up for the next seven years.

NHL goalies historically have not been paid as much as their skater brethren, but that is going to change over the next few years. Lundqvist's deal of $8.5 million a year exceeds the previous top salary of Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask by $1.5 million.

Highest-Paid NHL Goaltenders Starting In 2014-15

GOALTENDER

TEAM

AGE

CAP HIT

Henrik Lundqvist

NYR

31

$8.5M

Tuukka Rask

BOS

26

$7M

Pekka Rinne

NSH

31

$7M

Carey Price

MTL

26

$6.5M

Cam Ward

CAR

29

$6.3M

Cap Geek

It also puts Lundqvist into a class of players that includes Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby in terms of monetary value. This is a huge deal in terms of the salary structure of the NHL, and there will be a trickle-down effect in the coming years.

For example, here are goalies who are set to become free agents and what their current cap hits are.

2014 Notable Free-Agent Goaltenders

GOALTENDER

STATUS

TEAM

AGE

CAP HIT

Ryan Miller

UFA

BUF

33

$6,250,000

Jonas Hiller

UFA

ANA

31

$4,500,000

Martin Brodeur

UFA

NJD

41

$4,500,000

Jaroslav Halak

UFA

STL

28

$3,750,000

Tim Thomas

UFA

FLA

39

$3,750,000

Devan Dubnyk

UFA

EDM

27

$3,500,000

Evgeni Nabokov

UFA

NYI

38

$3,250,000

Semyon Varlamov

RFA

COL

25

$2,833,333

Ilya Bryzgalov

UFA

EDM

33

$2,266,234

Tomas Vokoun

UFA

PIT

37

$2,000,000

Nikolai Khabibulin

UFA

CHI

40

$2,000,000

Brian Elliott

UFA

STL

28

$1,800,000

James Reimer

RFA

TOR

25

$1,800,000

Ray Emery

UFA

PHI

31

$1,650,000

Cap Geek

Lundqvist's salary increase will cause a chain reaction that will allow other goalies throughout the league to leverage more money. Ryan Miller in particular will love this deal because of the statistical similarities he shares with the Rangers' netminder.

Winner: The 2013-2017 Rangers

While the deal's length is not the greatest, the Rangers have locked up one of the NHL's top netminders for the rest of this decade. He likely will remain an elite goaltender until age 36 or 37 barring injury, so the Blueshirts should have a number of opportunities to contend for the Stanley Cup.

There is no guarantee of this, but this deal is a win considering Lundqvist's stature.

Since 1967, 26 times has a starter aged 31+ posted a save pct of .920 or better in a season: http://t.co/HxDXgWbv0v

Basically, these are three of the biggest winners of the Lundqvist signing. Obviously, Lundqvist wins big, but in addition to that, the team retains a key member of the franchise, ownership will continue to profit off of the team's biggest star and Lundqvist's goalie brethren now have some ammunition when asking for higher wages.

While the deal seems positive given Lundqvist's importance to the team, there are some negatives that come with this massive deal, and below are three of the biggest losers in this deal.

Loser: The NHL

Aaron Vincent Elkaim/Getty Images

Bettman doesn't like contracts with bogus years at the end.

The NHL sought to get rid of bogus contracts during the last lockout, and this contract comes across as a slap in the face. There is a slim chance that Lundqvist will finish this contract with the Rangers, so it can be assumed that the extra years at the end of this deal were added to dilute Lundqvist's cap hit. The cap hit is rather large to begin with, and this will ultimately impact the Blueshirts' salary-cap situation.

Bob McKenzie's breakdown of the first and last year of Lundqvist's contract really hammers home the above point.

Henrik Lundqvist will earn $11M, incl an $8M signing bonus, in Year 1 of his extension with NYR. He will receive $5.5M in final year (7th).

The Rangers overpaid Lundqvist, plain and simple. He has accomplished great things since entering the league, as noted by this tweet from John Buccigross of ESPN, but he hasn't been good enough for the team to win a championship.

Since rookie season in 2005-06, Hank Lundqvist has won the most games (284) and has the best goals against average (2.26) in the NHL #fish

This is not to blame Lundqvist for the Rangers' playoff failures, but it is a statement of fact. Goaltenders with less talent than Lundqvist have won the Stanley Cup, and they were able to do this because of a talented team in front of them.

The 2010 Stanley Cup Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers is a good example of this, and it shows that average goaltending can get you to a championship. This year, there have been examples of goalies like Josh Harding, Ben Scrivens, Ben Bishop and assorted others coming out of nowhere.

While the Rangers wouldn't have ever entertained an idea like this, other teams have had success with goaltenders that collected a small paycheck.

Here is a chart of the last couple of Stanley Cup winners and how much each goaltender made.

List of Stanley Cup Winners During Salary-Cap Era

SEASON

TEAM

GOALTENDER

AAV

POST CUP-AAV

2012-13

CHI

Corey Crawford

$2,666,667

$6,000,000

2011-12

LAK

Jonathan Quick

$1,800,000

$5,800,000

2010-11

BOS

Tim Thomas

$5,000,000

Same Contract

2009-10

CHI

Antti Niemi

$826,875

$2,000,000

2008-09

PIT

Marc-Andre Fleury

$5,000,000

Same Contract

2007-08

DET

Chris Osgood

$1,416,667

Retired

2006-07

ANA

J.S. Giguere

$6,000,000

Same Contract

2005-06

CAR

Cam Ward

$684,000

$2,666,667

Cap Geek / Hockey Zone Plus

I'm not saying that Lundqvist should have walked, but spending less on goaltending and more on scoring has been an effective strategy with Cup winners.

For the most part, the above teams spent little on goaltending and more on forwards. The Chicago Blackhawks, for example, spent money on Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and assorted others.

The Los Angeles Kings spent money on Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown and assorted others. The list goes on and on, and it speaks to the simple fact that scoring can trump goaltending.

Loser: Rangers' Salary Cap

Barring a massive increase in the salary cap, the Blueshirts are pretty much S.O.L. for free agency this year.

For a better explanation, here is a chart to help clear things up (projections based off current salary cap).

New York Rangers' Upcoming Salary-Cap Situation

PLAYER

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

FORWARDS

5

2

2

Rick Nash

$7,800,000

$7,800,000

$7,800,000

Brad Richards

$6,666,667

$6,666,667

$6,666,667

Ryan Callahan

UFA

N/A

N/A

Derick Brassard

RFA

N/A

N/A

Derek Stepan

$3,075,000

RFA

N/A

Carl Hagelin

$2,250,00

RFA

N/A

Brian Boyle

UFA

N/A

N/A

Derek Dorsett

$1,633,333

UFA

N/A

Taylor Pyatt

UFA

N/A

N/A

Benoit Pouliot

UFA

N/A

N/A

Mats Zuccarello

RFA

N/A

N/A

Dominic Moore

UFA

N/A

N/A

Chris Kreider

RFA

N/A

N/A

DEFENSE

2

1

1

Ryan McDonagh

$4,700,000

$4,700,000

$4,700,000

Marc Staal

$3,975,000

N/A

N/A

Dan Girardi

UFA

N/A

N/A

Michael Del Zotto

RFA

N/A

N/A

Anton Stralman

UFA

N/A

N/A

Justin Falk

RFA

N/A

N/A

John Moore

RFA

N/A

N/A

GOALTENDING

2

1

1

Henrik Lundqvist

$8,500,000

$8,500,000

$8,500,000

Cam Talbot

$562,500

UFA

N/A

TOTALS

$39,162,500

$27,666,667

$27,666,667

ROSTER SIZE

9

4

4

CAP SIZE

$25,137,500

$36,633,333

$36,633,333

Cap Geek

If you buy out Brad Richards, roughly $7 million in space is opened, but that also means they need to sign another player. In this situation, the Rangers will have between $26 and $32 million to ice a roster, which may or may not include free-agents Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi, Anton Stralman, Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, John Moore and Michael Del Zotto.

There are also going to be role depth spots to be filled, and that could cost a considerable chunk as well.

How do you feel about the Henrik Lundqvist extension?

How do you feel about the Henrik Lundqvist extension?

Love It

21.5%

Like It

22.1%

OK With It

26.1%

Neutral

11.1%

Dislike It

12.5%

Hate It

6.7%

Total votes: 1,108

Lundqvist was going to get paid like a star, but his new deal is going to take up a lot of cap room over the next few seasons. The slight increase in his salary is minimal, but in context, that money could have been divided amongst a few players.

The Rangers have known for the past few seasons that goal scoring was an issue, so it will be interesting to see how they remake their roster while remaining cap compliant.

Conclusion

All in all, it is hard to complain because the Blueshirts have locked up a quality netminder for the rest of the decade. However, they have made a risk by giving a goaltender a contract that takes up a good deal of cap space.

Time and time again, Lundqvist has been solid for the Rangers, but the lack of scoring has resulted in several playoff exits. Unless Lundqvist is going to start scoring goals, spending money to keep the team status quo makes little sense.

While the Rangers weren't going to turn to a goalie like Jonas Hiller or Ryan Miller in free agency, it would have made sense to work out a hometown discount with Lundqvist. He remains adamant that his No. 1 goal is to win a Stanley Cup, but this contract could tie the Rangers' hands when it comes to assembling a championship roster.

It is great that the Rangers secured a player that could go down as the greatest goaltender in franchise history, but he isn't going to be the sole difference-maker in whether or not they win a Stanley Cup.

The monetary commitment and the effects it could have going forward are speculative, but the Rangers couldn't allow their franchise netminder to leave New York. No one has questioned Lundqvist's worth to the franchise up to this point, but the end of this contract will ultimately play a role in defining his legacy as a Ranger.